1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique that specifies flesh areas contained in an image, and a technique that implements a smoothing process on image data corresponding to flesh areas.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the resolution of digital still cameras grows ever higher, so too do pigmentation spots, age spots, and blemishes become more conspicuous in the flesh areas of images that are produced. After a photograph has been taken, a process for adjusting picture quality can be readily implemented on the digital image data produced by digital still cameras. Practical use is now being made of techniques for reducing or eliminating parts where faithfully reproducing pigmentation spots, age spots, and blemishes in the flesh areas of an image would be undesirable.
Specifically, flesh areas in the image can be specified, and a smoothing process can be implemented on image data corresponding to the flesh areas to reduce or eliminate such spots and the like in the flesh areas.
However, a problem in conventional techniques or specifying flesh areas is the low accuracy in identifying flesh areas because such flesh areas are determined based on the presence of parts forming the face, such as the eyes and mouth, or the shape of the areas. Low accuracy in identifying flesh areas results in the smoothing process being carried out on areas that do not represent flesh, and thus in lower image reproduction accuracy, that is, lower picture quality. An example of a resulting problem is that a flesh toned sweater could be identified as a flesh area, and the coarse texture of the sweater could be eliminated.